ICWA Weekly News 4-17-24
Vax-unVax RV in Olympia with Jim Walsh, Phil Fortunato and Dr. Paul Thomas; Cowlitz County searches for new Health Officer; The Most Damaging Lie Uncovered; County water supply fluoridation saga.
In this issue:
Please visit the Vax-unVax RV
Olympia happened on 16-April: Successful meeting between Vax-unVax RV + Rep. Jim Walsh + Sen. Phil Fortunato + Dr. Paul Thomas.
April 17 Seattle - Downtown Westlake Park. Noon: a pop-show with The Refusers Band. 1-3 PM. Dr. Paul Thomas, Dr. Brian Hooker and more. Hotel meet and greet after.
April 19 Spokane – Interviews all day. Speakers 4-6 PM: Drs. Scott Jensen, Jason Kinley, Kelly Victory, Paul Thomas/DeeDee Hoover.
Cowlitz County BOH Passes Resolution
Fluoridation of Drinking Water at the Local Level
The Most Damaging Lie So Far this Century
Vax-Unvax in Olympia
April 12 Episode of Informed Life Radio - - Notes and Links
Health Hour:
Guest: Michael Breneman
“Those screaming to halt misinformation are spreading misinformation,” Bernadette Pajer.
Liberty Hour:
Guests: Dr. Jason Kinley, Dr. Scott Jensen
COVID-19 Data Collection, Comorbidity & Federal Law: A Historical Retrospective (includes CDC changing death certificate instructions for COVID)
Local Community Shines As Cowlitz County BOH Passes Resolution for New Public Health Officer
On the same Halloween Day in 2023 that the Cowlitz County Board of Health passed Washington’s first Medical Freedom Resolution, it looked like a certainty that the board was also going to renew the contract between Cowlitz County and Clark County to allow Alan Melnick and Steve Krager to serve in both counties as public health officers.
But just after the motion was put forward, Board Member Arne Mortensen stopped the momentum when he spoke first during the discussion period:
Tuesday Public Meeting: Board of Health - 10.31.2023 (youtube.com)
“I do not want to approve a contract for Dr. Krager or Dr. Melnick or the Clark County people. I don’t think they served us very well through the COVID stuff. The primary hook is that I was always asking for a balanced presentation discussion of the pros and the cons, and I was never afforded that. I was always told things and promises for the future that if you get the ‘r’ factor down below a certain number, this thing will die off and so forth. It’s the litany we’ve all heard, the two weeks of endurance of a mandate, and everything would get healed.
“The biggest problem I have is that any serious problem needs to be laid out on the table even-handedly, and that was never done. So, in this case it turns out that it was probably a mistake, and I tend not to want to award mistakes. I think this is a very important spot for us to have a health officer who understands the vagaries of research and the vagaries of prognostication and has an appreciation for the conflict we have when we mandate things, and I don’t think we had that. I spent many hours individually speaking with them, and they were always interesting academic discussions, but I take a look at results, and we failed.”
The board went on to agree and decided to hold work discussion sessions. By the end of 2023, both public health officers resigned. But Krager, who had resigned as the deputy health officer to Melnick, was then appointed as interim county health officer on January 30, 2024.
After that, Mortensen took a liking to Krager. At the February 27, 2024 Cowlitz Board of Health meeting, he stated the following:
Tuesday Public Meeting: Board of Health - 02.27.24 (youtube.com)
As for Dr. Krager to be our public health officer, I have discussed this with him one-on-one. We face obligations of the HHS versus the health officer. I recall when Dr. Melnick and Dr. Krager first came on board, they were put under some pressure to decide that Camp Alabama was a health hazard, and the health officer was supposed to declare that and of course the health officer has a lot of power so that requires a lot of wisdom and reservation on the part of the health officer, which should be a totally nonpolitical position. Fortunately, I think that’s something we can have confidence in with Dr. Krager.
The function of the health officer is not the same as HHS, and I think sometimes they’re conflated. I think for things that HHS should do is much more of disseminating information. We very much don’t mind having a health officer, but we must work with the health officer in an appropriate context.
Lindy Campbell said, “We got a chance to get to know Dr. Krager more, which was not the case with the previous health officer.”
But the lone public commenter on this topic caught the board’s attention when she raised the following issues with the position of public officer. “I see no restrictions on these powers,” she said. “What if the public officer sees diseases spreading among restaurants and shuts down a string of businesses? What can do the community do if they don’t agree with that? There is a statewide mandate that gets really hard about what we can do locally to advocate what we can do that is best for our community. That does get really tricky when there’s a statewide mandate. So, a public health officer does not supersede a statewide mandate.”
Dr. Krager then sat at the staff table and responded:
“Regarding the statewide powers, I view my role, if I’m appointed as the public health officer, to advocate for Cowlitz County. Yes, we do have to follow state law. I want to have a finger on the pulse of the community and advocate for what’s best. Second of all, on whether I would overstep powers and duties, ultimately, I report to this board. If I do something that the board disagrees with, you can fire me. So, I think that’s a check on the health officer powers. The power of the health officer is quite broad, but there’s a check on that.”
Dennis Weber then complimented Krager’s actions during the COVID-19 lockdown:
“You weren’t coming down with a heavy hand. It was the state officials that came in and interfered with our lives and incorrectly, in my opinion, and we advocated as best we could. So, I appreciated your sensitivity to us. A lot of back stuff happened, and I hope it doesn’t happen again. I think you’re the right person to be the intermediary.”
Lindy Campbell then said the following:
For when the monkey pox came down, we we’re waiting for big headlines, and pandemic kinds of attitudes, and I talked with Dr. Krager, and he said that he didn’t see this to be a big issue, and we’re going to just watch it and see what it does, and he had a reasonable response, and I felt really comfortable with the way he responded.
Kelly Lane then said, “The first sentence of the RCW says that the local public health officer acts under the direction of the local board of health, so, there is a check and balance there.”
After that clarification, no further discussion ensued. Before you knew it, the board unanimously passed a resolution to bypass Clark County and hire Dr. Steve Krager as Cowlitz County’s new public health officer. The resolution has now gone on to the board of commissioners to work out the contract.
Fluoridation of Drinking Water at the Local Level
At the Washington state Board of Health (BOH) meeting last Wednesday, April 10, held in Spokane, two public comments were given for recommending that Spokane add fluoride to its drinking water.
The first one came from Dr. James Sledge, who worked in private dental practice in Spokane for twenty-nine years and is now a faculty member at the University of Washington School of Dentistry. He said that he has seen fewer cavities in communities that add fluoride to its drinking water.
On the other side of the argument, as well as the other side of the state, the City of Lynden will be conducting public hearings On the Question of Whether the City Should Consider Discontinuing Fluoridization of the City's Municipal Water Supply. These public hearings will be conducted during the Lynden City Council meetings scheduled for Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. and Monday, May 20, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. The public hearing will be in the council chambers at the Lynden City Annex, 205 4th Street.
Public hearing comments may be provided in person at the public hearing or may be provided in writing. Written comments should state it is in reference to the public hearing and must include one’s name and address. Written comments must be received no later than 12:00 p.m. on May 6, 2024 and no later than 12:00 p.m. on May 20, 2024 so that copies may be prepared and provided to council members at the council meetings. Written comments can submitted in three of the following ways:
+ Mail: City Hall at 300 4th Street, Lynden, WA 98264.
+ Email: Cityhall@lyndenwa.org
+ In person: 300 4th Street (City Hall Administration Office)
At its March 13 meeting, the BOH decided to deny Bill Osmunson’s request for a public forum on fluoride in the public drinking water systems. Board member Stephen Kutz had pointed to WAC 246.290.490 and said that this should be taken up only as a local issue. The board agreed.
Since the board decided that this issue should be taken up on a local level, ICWA reached out to the Board of Health staff for data concerning the levels of fluoride used in drinking water by district or county.
The Board of Health staff replied as follows:
Here is a resource you may find helpful: Fluoridation of Drinking Water | Washington State Department of Health.
The Department's Office of Drinking Water is currently working on updating a list by county with populations that fluoridate water. As we know more information and when that list is updated, we will reach back out.
The above link led to the DOH website in which the best it could do was a map of the Washington counties with scattered red dots that indicating “fluoridating systems.” Instead of waiting for an updated listed for who knows how long, ICWA has requested a current list by county.
Speaking of delays, the BOH has yet to release its meeting packet or video from last Wednesday’s meeting in Spokane. When it does, ICWA Weekly News will provide an analysis of the Department of Health’s (DOH) presentation to the board about injuries following the COVID-19 shots. For the moment, we can say that the DOH’s presentation operated off the CDC’s premise of “Correlation does not mean causation.”
The Most Damaging Lie So Far this Century
It shook the airwaves across the planet when on an October day in 2022, Rob Roos from the Netherlands asked Jeanine Small from Pfizer during a European Parliament hearing whether the COVID-19 shots were ever tested for preventing transmission, and she laughed as she said, “No, we were moving at the speed of science.”
After the hearing, Roos spoke to the camera:
“The Dutch prime minister and health minister told us, ‘If you don’t get vaccinated, you’re anti-social. You don’t just get vaccinated for yourself, but also do it for others. You do it for all of society.’
Today this turns out to be complete nonsense. This removes the entire legal basis for the Covid passport. The Covid passport that led to massive institutional discrimination as people lost access to essential parts of society. I find this to be shocking, even criminal. This is scandalous. Millions of people worldwide felt forced to get vaccinated because of the myth that “you do it for others.” Now this turned out to be a cheap lie. This should be exposed.”
But it didn’t actually take a parliamentary hearing admittance for anyone, most important our public officials, to know that this “cheap lie” was clearly evident well before then when FDA briefing documents from a December 2020 ACIP meeting revealed, “There is no evidence that the vaccines prevent transmission of COVID-19 from person-to-person.”
But, under the falsehood of preventing transmission for public health, Governor Jay Inslee mandated in October 2021 that all Washington state employees were required to take the COVID-19 jabs. This led to 1,900 Washington state workers quitting or getting fired, twenty-one percent of them coming from the Washington Department of Transportation.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy denied a request for a temporary injunction in a lawsuit by hundreds of Washington State Patrol troopers, corrections officers, ferry workers and other public employees. In victory, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is currently running for governor in 2024, said on Twitter that the verdict “ensures a safe and health[sic] work environment for all state employees.” His statement implied the negligent falsehood that the COVID-19 shots would prevent transmission of the disease.
When the governor’s emergency proclamation expired in August of 2022, Brandy Chinn, rules and legislative relations manager in the Office of Financial Management (OFM), used the same reasoning for adopting the governor’s directive for state employees:
On August 5, 2022, Governor Inslee issued Directive 22-13.1, COVID-19 Vaccination Standards for State Employees, which directs a COVID-19 vaccination condition of employment requirement for state executive and small cabinet agencies. Although the emergency proclamation is expiring, COVID-19 and the effects of its risk of person-to-person transmission continue to impact the life and health of all Washingtonians and the economy of Washington State. COVID-19 vaccines are effective in reducing infection and serious disease, and widespread vaccination is the primary means we have as a state to protect the health and safety of our workforce. As an employer, there is an obligation to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for all state employees. The vaccination requirements set forth in these proposed rules will help establish and maintain a healthy and safe work environment to protect the welfare of all state employees.
And what about how this trickled down to our communities, such as the firing of a dozen Kirkland firefighters in December 2021, or the firing of eighty healthcare workers at PeaceHealth in Bellingham under the falsehood of protecting others?
As a case in point, in a September 2, 2022 letter to the terminated Kirkland Firefighters, Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett wrote the following about preventing transmission in the workplace:
The city manager and fire chief evaluated whether you and other unvaccinated firefighters could be accommodated and determined that it was an undue hardship to the city to provide a reasonable accommodation given the health, safety, operational, financial and administrative burdens and impacts, and thereafter the city manager and fire chief made the decision to separate you and other unvaccinated firefighters.
The Kirkland firefighters then appealed their case to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On September 27, 2022, the terminated Kirkland firefighters received a determination from Isabel Jeremiah, who investigated the case for the Seattle Field Office of the EEOC. Her premise for denying their appeal was the same as those from the Kirkland mayor and city manager, which was to protect others in the workforce:
Costs to be considered include not only direct monetary costs, but also the burden on the conduct of the employer’s business—including, in this instance, the risk of the spread of COVID-19 to other employees or to the public.
And what about how this falsehood had trickled down to creating the chaos on the Olympic Peninsula when Public Health Officer Allison Beery required proof of COVID-19 shot entry to enter indoor restaurants and bars.
But the saddest part from this “cheap lie” here in Washington was the injuries to those who did take the shots in order to keep their jobs. For this, one needs to look no further than a letter by state employee John Sienkiewicz that his parents gave to Washington Representative Cyndy Jacobsen.
Even though John worked from home as an employee for the Washington State government, he was required to take the COVID-19 shot or face termination. His symptoms from the shot included peripheral neuropathy, tinnitus, body tremors, internal vibrations, various forms of paresthesia, involuntary muscle pressure in his head, neck, and face, loss of sensation in his head, hands, and feet, a loss of motor function, and severe immune system dysregulation.
Before receiving the COVID-19 shot, he had no health issues. He hiked three times a week. He never had a broken bone and never even had a cavity.
He loved the job he had for the state, but in the letter he stated, “I am forced to use a career’s worth of leave to keep my job and medical insurance to try and get well from the side effects of a mandated vaccine I was told would protect me and others.”
The letter stated that he had reached out to Governor Jay Inslee, Senator Patty Murray, and Senator Maria Cantwell about his COVID-19 shot injury, but “None have replied to me.”
And finally, a little more than three years after the FDA December 2020 Pfizer briefing, in a February 15 congressional hearing, FDA and CDC officials publicly admitted to Texas Representative Michael Cloud that people who took the COVID-19 jabs could still transmit the virus.
“It does not absolutely prevent transmission,” said Dr. Peter Marks, one of the hearing witnesses and the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA.
This was a far cry from the year 2021 when Dr. Anthony Fauci, the one touted as America’s most trusted scientist, pontificated the following benefits about the COVID-19 shots:
You want to be a dead end to the virus. So, if the virus gets to you, you stop it. You don’t allow it to use you as the stepping stone to the next person.
In the same video montage gathered by Rob Anderson, this “stop the spread for the greater good” lie permeated all the way through the DOH to as low as our “trusted” local county public health officers, such as Dr. Alan Melnick in Clark County, Washington.
Dr. Alan Melnick, Local Health Officer for Clark County Washington, provides an update to the County Board of Health, attesting that the COVID-19 shots prevent transmission of the virus.
Here’s Dr. Melnick’s bit of misinformation: “As we progress in that direction, the more people who get vaccinated, the more the virus is blocked from being transmitted. The more people we get vaccinated, that helps prevent transmission. The good news is that if you’re fully vaccinated, you can be with other people. The fact is that the more people we get vaccinated, that helps step down transmission and spread of the virus.”
Readers might be wondering why ICWA refuses to stop reviewing the injustice and harms that occurred during COVID. We refuse because the system that allowed the government’s unprecedented, unwarranted, and harmful actions during COVID are still in place. If we want to prevent such devastating government actions in the future, we must review the problems now so that solutions can be created and implemented. Even then, constant vigilance is required.